People believe new footage may have captured Charlie Kirk’s assassin on the roof of Utah Valley University moments before the conservative commentator was shot and killed.
Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of conservative youth group Turning Point USA, was speaking at the Orem, Utah, campus on September 10 as part of his “American Comeback Tour” when he was fatally shot.
Video circulating online shows him addressing a large outdoor crowd when a loud crack is heard, before the 31-year-old raises his hand to his neck and collapses from his chair. Attendees can be seen fleeing in panic.
Authorities now say the fatal shot was likely fired from the top of the university’s Losee Center, roughly 200 meters from where Kirk was speaking, per BBC News.
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones shared two clips on his X page that he claims show the gunman. One appears to capture a figure moving on the roof in the aftermath of the shot, while another shows eventgoers pointing out what they believed to be a person “running on the roof” before shifting positions.
Police initially arrested two suspects, but later confirmed both had been released. Officials now believe the shooter acted alone and remains at large.
FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X: “The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement. Our investigation continues, and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency.”
Patel had earlier said: “We are closely monitoring reports of the tragic shooting involving Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. Our thoughts are with Charlie, his loved ones, and everyone affected.” He confirmed FBI agents would be on site to support the investigation.
News of Kirk’s condition first spread amid confusion, with President Donald Trump announcing his death on social media before it was officially confirmed.
Trump wrote on Truth Social: “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”
He later said in an Oval Office address he was “filled with grief and anger,” adding: “Charlie inspired millions, and tonight all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror.”
Trump blamed “those on the radical left” for comparing “wonderful Americans” like Kirk to “Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals,” and concluded: “This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”
Former President Joe Biden also issued a statement: “There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now. Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones.”
